Beginner’s Guide to Using Creatine

In this post, I’m going to show you the benefits of creatine and why you should be using it. There are an overwhelming number of supplements out there that can help enhance performance in the gym. There are so many options that it can quickly get confusing and very expensive. Arguably the best of the best when it comes to supplements is creatine, specifically creatine monohydrate. After reading this, you should know why to use creatine, what it is, how it works, and how to start using it.

Why creatine?

Creatine deserves a special place of recognition in the vast world of ergogenic (performance enhancing) aids, as it is one of, if not the, most studied (over 1,000 studies done) and scientifically supported supplements on the market. It has been shown that supplementing with creatine increases strength and muscle mass, improves performance, and helps with fatigue resistance. There is also some research suggesting that creatine may help decrease the chances of dealing with cognitive disease like Alzheimer’s and may help with issues related to postpartum depression. Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that is made in the liver and kidneys.

What is creatine & how it works

Most of the body’s creatine is found in our muscles (95%), with the remaining portion (5%) found in other tissue such as the brain and testes. We naturally get creatine in two ways, we either get it through our liver and kidneys making it, or we get it through consuming animal products. These are both decent means, but they provide creatine in minimal amounts compared to when supplementing with it. Supplementing with creatine increases muscle creatine and phosphocreatine (creatine with a phosphate attached) stores. Why does this matter and why is it beneficial to increase muscle creatine and phosphocreatine stores? The biggest reason is phosphocreatine’s relationship with ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate (two phosphates attached)) and their ability to help create ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate (three phosphates attached)). Why do we care about making ATP? Because ATP is the primary energy source for essential human functions such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission, and protein synthesis. Meaning that ATP plays a hugely important role in exercise, specifically short duration exercise. Think lifting weights, sprinting, and shorter intervals. How does this work? Since phosphocreatine is hanging around the body with a phosphate and ADP is hanging around the body with two phosphates, the phosphate on phosphocreatine can be taken off and added to ADP, creating ATP! This way of creating ATP is called the ATP-CP System and it is the fastest way to supply ATP to the muscles. So, in short, supplementing with creatine increases muscle creatine and phosphocreatine stores. This then helps the body create more ATP, which helps us increase our ability to produce a higher quality and intensity of effort for longer periods of time, while also delaying muscle fatigue. These things lead to an increase in performance as we are now able to push ourselves harder than before while getting tired at a slower rate.

How to start using creatine

When first using creatine there are two suggested methods. One is using a loading phase where you begin by taking a higher dose than usual for a short amount of time (5-7 days) and the other is just skipping right to a maintenance phase, which is the dose you will take every day for as long as you would like. There has not been any proof of creatine causing any issues from long term regular supplementation at an acceptable dose (5g/day) in healthy populations. During the 5-7 loading days, you can take an amount that is dictated by your body weight. The equation to find this number is 0.3g/kg/day. To find the daily amount, take your weight in pounds, divide by 2.2, then multiply that number by 0.3. This will give you your daily dose in grams for the loading phase. Once you are done with your loading phase, you can move to the other method, your maintenance phase. During the maintenance phase you can also use a weight dictated number (0.03g/kg/day) or you can just go straight to using the most common dose, 5g per day. This will be the most common dosage found on almost every creatine supplement’s instructions. The weight dictated number for the maintenance phase I have found usually tends to be a bit on the lower side and if you are a larger person, you can most likely get by with taking a little more than 5g per day. Some people can deal with some gastric distress or upset stomach symptoms when you first begin taking creatine, so if that is happening to you, dial back the amount you are taking or just skip the loading phase as a whole and go right to a maintenance phase. There is nothing wrong with keeping it simple and beginning your creatine supplementation by just taking 5g per day for as long as you would like. It will just take a little bit longer for the creatine to saturate into your muscles and tissue when skipping right to the maintenance phase.

When to take your creatine

Not much research has been done on timing of creatine ingestion and when it is best to ingest. The research currently indicates that the best time seems to be around the time of your workouts. There have been studies showing that is better to take creatine before your workouts and there have been some that show that it is better to take it after you workouts. Because of this, the recommendation is to take your creatine around the time of your workout for optimal results.

Time to get started

Hopefully this post gives you a one stop shop for all things creatine related. You should now have a good idea about why to take creatine, what it is, what it does, and how to get started. Creatine is one of, if not, the most studied supplement on the market and it is also an extremely safe supplement to use. Furthermore, compared to other supplements, it is also much more affordable. Now that you have everything you need to get started, give creatine a shot and watch your performance improve.

References:

Jurado-Castro, J. M., Navarrete-Perez, A., Ranchal-Sanchez, A., & Ordonez, F. M. (2021). Optimum Timing in Creatine Supplementation for Improved Sporting Performance. Archivos de Medecina del Deporte, 38(1), 48-53. https://doi.org/10.18176/archmeddeporte.00026

Mielgo-Ayuso, J., Calleja-Gonzalez , J., Marqués-Jiménez, D., Caballero-García, A., Córdova, A., & Fernández-Lázaro, D. (2019). Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Athletic Performance in Soccer Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients, 11(4), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11040757

Ribeiro, F., Longobardi, I., Perim, P., Duarte, B., Ferreira, P., Gualano, B., Roschel, H., & Saunders, B. (2017). Timing of Creatine Supplementation around Exercise: A Real Concern? Nutrients, 13(8), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082844